Closure for bottles, jars, and similar containers



Aprl 25, 1944.

C. D. MAGNESEN 2,347,605

CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES, JARS, AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS Filed April 18, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 25, 1944. 4 c D MAGNEsEN 2,347,605

4 CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES, JARS, AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS Filed April 18, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 25, 1944 I 2,347,605

UNITED' STATES APATENT OFFICE CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES, JARS, AND

SIMILAR CONTAINERS V Charles D. Magnesen, Chicago, Application April 18, 1940, Serial No. %0,238

` 4 Claims. (c. 215-453) My invention relates generally to a closure Other objects and advantages will be more apmernber or cap adapted to efiectively close and parent rrom the following description wherein refseai the mouths or openings of bottles, jars, metal erence is had to the accompanying two sheets of cans or other containers and which may be apdrawings, upon which plied and removed by hand as many times as del Fig. 1 is a front perspective View of a portion sired. of a bottle neck showing my improved closure My inventicn relates more specifically to a member in position and with the forefinger and device of the character described particularly thumb of a person's hand shown in dotted .lines adapted for use with bottles, jars or other conremoving the foil seal on the cap;

tainers which have a comparatively small neck Fig. 2 is a similar front perspective View of the and mouth and are not 'readily capped or uncap and bottle neck after the seal has been recapped with the closure members at present on moved and the outer cap member has been raised the market. by placing the thumb on the cap button and While the general Construction of my improved w the two first fingers beneath the edge of'the outer cap may be similar to that shown and described member, in which position the cap is'removed in United States Patent No. 2045,4B0, issued `June from the bottle: 23, 1936, to Hooker Magnesen and myselLyet n'y Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view" of the cap t present invention is directed toa type of cap m'n iber; i 4 which is not at present on the market and con- [iha 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view tains a great many advantagesover the construct rough the neck of a bottle ,with the cap in sealtion of the above mentioned patent. ing position thereon taken on the line 4-4 of Fig.

One of the principal objects of my i-nvention is e 3:

to provide an improved cap which attains a high` Fig.-5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 except with and uniform degree of-eifectiveness in `closing or the foil seal removed and the outer member in scaling the months of bottles'or other' containers raised position adjacent the top of the cap butto which it is applied, notwithstanding some irton so that the closure 'member can be removed; regularities in the' size or' shape of the necks of y Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the foil seal; bttles or other containers to which it is ap'plied: i Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the top member;

A further object of the present invention, is to Fig. 8 is a perspective View of the outer mem- /provide a simple and inexpensive cap' which can ber,`and r be cheaply manufactured and which can be ap- Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the gasket which plied and removedea'sily by manual operation is formed of rubber or other material. a large number of times without becoming,ben In the preferred embcdiment of 'my invention or distorted or losing its effectiveness. i r which I have chosen to illustrate, in Figs. 6 to -9 A further object of the present inventiori is to pf the drawings I have shown the four parts' provide an improved cap for small-necked hotties which when assemble'd together provide the cap or other containers provided witha foil seal which 5 assembly and scal thatiform the subject matter must be destroyed before the cap can be re- J of my inventlon. These parts may comprise the moved, thereby insuring the contents `of the confoil seal 'o shown in Fig. 6, the top member z tainer are not adulteratd or in any way tam- 40 shown in Fig. 7 the outer member M shown V pered with after the original contents were sealed in Fig 8, and' the scaling Washer" Is shown in Fig. 9. The outer member which is formed A further object ot the'invention is to provide of sheet metal may comprise a cylindrical cup i an improved cap for small-necked bottles or simihaving an ennular rolled over edge !8 at its open lar containers so donstructed that the cap may end !U andan axia'lly disposed cylindrical openberemoved after the ioil seal is toi-n omby grasping 22 fcrmed in its, bottom wall 24. iri g the cap in one hand between the two first The top member z which is formed of sheet .flngers and the thumb and by pressing down on metal, or other material having someresiliency, a raised portion or the cap with the thumb and may also be in the form ci' a cup-shaped mempulling up with the flngers on the *edges of the ber having a cylindrical wall 26 which is cut out I/ at regular intervals to form a-plurality of finger A further object of the invention is to so conmembers 28. Each of the flnger members is struct the cap that the same may easily be reprovided intermediate its ends with an outwardly placed' on a contalner by simply pressing down disposed corrugation 30, the corrugation being on the edges of the cap. aligned so that the same may be formed in one v operation beiore the spaces are cut out between the flngers. Similarlm the lower ends of the flngers are curled or formed with inward rolls 32 which are also aligned so that the same may be made in a single operation. The top member is provided with a flat horizontal upper wall 34 which has projecting upwardly therefrom a reduced circular; portion 36 terminating' in the closed wall 38 forming in eifect a button upon the top member. The portion 36, which is cylindrical and disposed axially of the wall 26, has a slight outward bulge 31 just beneath the top wall 38 of the same, for a purpose which will be hereinafter described.

The outer member |4 and the top member I 2 are assembled together as shown in Fig. 4, with the button portion extended upwardly through the axial opening 22. After these two parts are assembled together the outward bulge 31 is made in the button portion so that the same can not pass through ,the opening .22 in the outer member l4, but may be moved back and fol-th most of the distance between the wall 38 and the wall 34. The gasket or ring member IS may be positioned within the top member l2 lying against the under side of the wall 34 so that when the assenbly is placed upon theopen end 42 of a bottle neck 44, the same may efl'ect an annular seal around the top of the same.

In applying the cap or closure member thus assembled to a bottle or other container, the elements will be in the position shown in Fig. 5, with the flngers 28 yielding sufiiciently to permit the rolls 32 to pass into the groove of the bottle neck below the upper bulge and make resilient or frictional engagement with the same. To securely lock the cap or closure member in position on the bottle top, the outer member l4 is then pushed downwardly over the inner or top member !2, the inner face of the cylindrical wall of the' outer member bearing against and slightly pressing the fingers inwardly at thei, ;corrugations 30 and then bearing against t e outside side of the rolls 32 as it comes opposit them, with the result that the inner member is frictionally stressed downwardly, and through the inherent elasticity of the rolls and their camming action against the upper face of the groove in the bottle neck, the flngers are drawn downward with a yielding pull in a manner similar 'to that described in the United States Patent heretofore mentioned herein.

In order to remove the closure member from a neck of a bottle or other container; the roll !3 of the outer member l4 may be grasped by the first two flngers, the thumb placed upon the top wall 38 of the cap and held there while the' outer member is raised until it strikes the bulgeportion 31 of the button as shown in' Fig. 2. v

From the above description it canireadily be seen that I have 'provided a simple and efl'ective closure member tor small necked battles, :lare oi' other containers. By providing a button upon which the thumb may be placed and the edge of the outer member g'rasp'ed with the two first fingers, a bottle cap ot comparatively' small side can be removed from or placed upon a container. i

Battle closures of the general type described are shown in the art, but so far as I am aware, none of them are so constructed as to exhibit effective longitudinal elastic stress upon the flnger members, which in applicant's device is attained and contributed to in varying measure 'fl aadpted to outer member within which the top member is' telescoped, is spaced from the top member so that the only frictional contact between the two parte occurs at the horizontal corrugations and the rolls on the flngers.

For the purpose of preventing undetected substitution of the contents oi a container, I have provided a fpil member I 0, which may be of metal or any other-"suitable material. As .shown in'Fig.

4, the member n may be provided with a cylindrical portion ma telescoped about the neck 36 o! the button member with' a-slight outwardly extending'flange fob flattened out upon the wall 24 ,of 'the outer shell. I provide one or more an- ,muar grooves loc in the wall Ina at a point directly below the bulge 31 on the button for the purpose of retaining the foil member in position on the same. The foil member may have an upper wall |0d applied over the top wall 38 of the button. with a disc-like segment me cut out of the same except for a small neck portion lflf which connects the disc portion to th'e foil member o. When an original package of merchandise is purchased and the user wishes to open the bottle, he may grasp the disc member we between the thumb and forefinger as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and tear the foil off the bottle generally on a path through th'e neck ox. After the foil seal has once been removed it will of course be ap'parent to the observer that the closure member may be used indeflnitely for sealing bottle tops. While I have illustrated in this embodiment a foil seal which is a separate unit from the closure member proper, it will be obvious that other means may be associated with the same for efl'ecting a tamper-proof seal. While I have illustrated and described a specific embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modiflations may be made in the various details shown, and I do not wish to be limited in any particuIar; rather what I desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A closure of the type described comprising a pair' of telescopically slidable members connected together, one of said members being a top member having a raised button thereon, a ledge around the upper edge of theshank of said button, said member having an. enlarged aligned cylindrical portion below said button and a plurality, of relatively narrow longitudinally yielding flrgers oi'iginating at and depending from the horizontal portion of said top member about the perip 'cry thereof, each flnger being formed with an outward horizontal corrugation intermediate its ends and with an inwardly curled resilient terminal portion, the outer telescopic member comprising a. cylindrical shell of sumcient diameter to surround and contact the outward bulges of said ngers whereby the outer member is subject said fingers in a closing move- 'ment to pressure occasioning longitudinal extensioh oi' said flngers to thereby compensate for irregularities on the underside of the shoulder of a receptacle to which said flngers may be elpplied, said outer member having a flat upper surface with an opening therein which surrounds the shank of the button on ting limited telescopic movement between the two parts, said ledge preventing separation of the same.

2. A closure of the type described comprising a pair of telescopically slidable members connected together, one of said members being a top member having a raised button thereon, a ledge around the upper edge of the shank of said button, said member having an enlarged cylindrical portion below said button and a plurality'of relatively narrow longitudinally yielding flngers originating at and depending from the horizontal portion of said top member aboutthe periphery thereof, said ngers adapted to grip under a shoulder of a receptacle to which the closure is applied, the outer telescopic member comprising a cylindrical round and contact said fngers whereby the outer member is adapted to subject said fngers in a closing movement to pressure to grip under the shoulder of a receptacle, said outer member having a fiat upper surface with an opening therein which surrounds the shank of the button on the top member permitting limited telescopie movement between the two parts, said ledge preventing separtion of the same and a !oil seal member Secured only to said button which must be mutiated before said closure can be removed.

3. A closure of the type described comprising a. pair of telescopically slidable members connected together, one of said members being a top member having a raised cylindrical button thereon with the upper part of the same larger than the shank. said member having an en- Iarged aligned cylindrieal portion below said button and a. plurality of relatively narrow longitudinally yielding flngers originating at and depe'nding from the horizontal portion of said top member about the periphery thereof, each flnger the top 'member permiti being formed with an outward horizontal corugation intermediate its ends and with an inwardly curled resilient terminal portion, the outer telescopic member comprising a oylindrical shell of suflleient diameter to surshell of sumcient diameter to surround and contact the outward bulges of said flngers whereby the outer member is adapted to subject said fingers in a closing movement to pressure occasioning longitudi'nal extension of said fingers to thereby compensate for irregularities on the underside of the shoulder of a reoeptacle to which said fingers may be applied, said outer member having a flat upper surface with a circular opening therein through which the shani: of the button on the top member extends permitting limited telescopic movement between the two parts but preventing separation of the same.

4. A closure of the type described comprising a pair of telescopically slidable members connected together, one of said member being an inner member having a raised button thereon, a ledgearound the upper edge of the shank of said button, said member having an enlarged aligned cylindrical portion below said button, a ring gasket disposed therein against the horizontal wall connecting the button and the enlarged cylindrical portion, said member having a plurality of longitudinally extending y'elding fingers adapted when pressed inwardly to grip on the under side of the shoulder of a receptacle to which the fingers may be applied, the outer telescopic member comprising a cylindrical shell of sumcient diameter to surround and contact said fingers to force them under the shoulder of a receptacle said outer member having a fiat upper surface with an axial opening therethrough which surrounds the shank of the button on the inner member to permit telescopic movement between the ledge and the ho izontal wall of the cylindrioal portion of said inner member.

CHARLES D. MAGNESEN. 

